Sweet Vendetta //Danger Days//

20. Aftermath

    "They did what?" Ms. Management clutched onto her clip board tightly.

"They, uh, escaped." Sprawl shuffled his feet against the grey carpet.

"To be fair, madam, we didn't even know that the Fabulous Four were alive. Nobody informed us that we were keeping them in the basement for seven years, let alone that they were supposed to come back to life." Flare muttered, worried that she might anger her boss.

"Yes, because we were waiting to revive them when we could use them as soldiers!" Ms. Management shrieked in anger, startling the two soldiers in her office.

"What about Korse? Has he finished reprogramming?" She asked, taking a few deep breaths.

"Well..." Flare cringed.

"What." Ms. Management narrowed her eyes at the orange haired girl.

"He got out."

The woman threw her clip board to the ground in anger.

"HE GOT OUT? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" She spat, pacing across the office floor.

"We don't understand what went wrong. He was just too strong." Spraw explained.

"Close off the city boarders. We're in code six lock-down. There's a fugitive loose in the streets. Headphone volume is to be turned to 6.95." She instructed.

"On it." Flare nodded, marching out of the office.

But Korse was far out of the city, speeding rapidly through the Zones in a stolen B.L.I car. He made it. Finally, he had escaped. The man had no idea where he was going, or how he was going to survive, but he felt liberated.

He vowed to never kill an innocent person again. Korse had grown too old for the life he had been living. It was about time he changed things.

---

      The early hours of the morning were creeping up on us as Party drove the Trans AM away from the nest. We wouldn't reach Zone 6 until the sun began to rise. After that, we would continue out into the unknown. We had no clue what was outside Zone 6, as we just assumed that the radiation got too high.

I was willing to take a huge risk for the sake of discovery.

Ghoul was fast asleep in the back, snoring like a monster. Of course I remained awake, sitting in the passenger seat as I watched my old home fly by me. I felt sick after leaving everyone behind, but this was for the best. Who knew what would happen when we left? Maybe there's an empire outside of this one. Maybe the world around us is still alive and blossoming? I liked to think that there would be other people just waiting for us to arrive. They might have nicer food. I prayed that the food would be better.

"What do you expect to find when we get out of here?" Party asked me, focusing on the road in front of him.

"Reality. Existence. Survival." I shrugged.

"What if there's absolutely nothing. What if there's desert forever?" He challenged.

"There can't be. When I first came to Battery City, we passed through many forests and lakes. There was more than just sand and rocks." I replied.

"That was over a decade ago, Atom. Things could have changed." 

I rested my head against the glass window.

"I don't believe you." I responded, staring out at the oncoming sunrise.

---

     The battle continued throughout the rest of the night. Eventually, the Dracs retreated. The Killjoys had actually one.

"That's right! Get the fuck out of here!" Ghost jeered, waving the Dracs off as they drove away.

"Suck my ass!" Volume hollered, using her hands as a megaphone. 

The rebels that were alive took time to celebrate, then turned to face the dead. There were many bodies lining the streets. A lot of lives had been lost.

Cola was the first to be taken care of. Everyone in the Zones knew the poet very well, and they respected him deeply.

"The Phoenix Witch will take great care of him. She loved Cola." Volume brushed a strand of the dead man's hair out of his face.

"Oh, Cola!" Missile sobbed, hurrying over to her dear friend.

"I'm sorry this had to happen." Smoke patted the little girl's back.

"He was protecting me. Why are the people I love dying!" She wailed.

"Hold on, what do you mean?" Ghost furrowed his brow.

"Dr. D is dead. Psycho shot him. Then he shot himself, and now Cola-"

She cut herself off with a shuddering breath.

"Wait, Psycho?" Neon widened his eyes. Missile nodded, wiping away her tears. The little girl's black cat came out of his hiding spot under the porch, running into her arms. She buried her face into the animal's soft fur, searching for comfort.

"He went mad. We don't know what happened." Gear explained, wiping the sweat off of his brow. 

"How the hell are you so calm about this?" Volume gawked at the child.

"At least twenty people are dead. Give me a minute to chill out." Gear responded, clearing the sand off of his shirt.

Vamos and Vaya walked out to the center of the Nest, staring at the still bodies of their old friends.

"Look at this mess." Vamos spat, putting their hands on their hips.

"What a shit-storm." Vaya grumbled, tapping their brown leather boot against the ground.

Val wasn't really saying anything. The twins noticed that he had been zoning out a lot in the past few days, and he's been quieter than ever.

"Is he alright?" Vamos muttered under his breath to his sibling.

"I think he's got Flash Rash or somethin'. He's been really off." Vaya responded.

Val could hear his two companions talking, but he didn't understand their words. His ears were too busy ringing  for him to make out what they were discussing.

'Atomic wants me to take over? Why? What does that even mean? Why me?'

He had a hard time grasping the entire situation. Power had been handed to him on a silver platter by a girl he adored. This was far from normal. He didn't know what to make of it.

'Just try and do as good of a job as she did, okay?'

---

     Missile Kid was the one to bury the bodies of Dr. Death and Cherri Cola that very next day. It was hard, and rather gruesome, but she wasn't going to let them pile up like garbage with the rest of the fallen Killjoys. She had created two makeshift graves, each one with a wooden tombstone made with scrap wood. She took the time to engrave the names of the two men into the wood, and stuck them firmly into the ground where their bodies lay.

"The ground isn't as cold with you two in it." She spoke to the graves quietly. The cat brushed against her leg, almost as if it were trying to consol her.

Everyone she cared about, minus Mad Gear, was gone. The Fabulous Four had run off, but she wasn't upset about that. They'd be back soon, she just knew it.

She still felt lonely, though.

"Don't worry. Atomic and the rest of them will be back in no time. They're just going to get help." She reassured the animal at her feet. It simply yawned, exposing it's tiny pointed teeth.

"Let's get home. There's a lot of work to be done." She picked up the cat, slipping it into her black backpack.

The desert, like it was most of the time, was silent.

______________
!!!!! SECOND-TO-LAST CHAPTER GET READY !!!!!!

My math teacher despises me.
I hate school.
He literally hates my guts and I don't know whyyyy.
Oh well.